MuPC 156 Chamber Music I Prof.

Eduardo Pasamba
Emlyn S. Ponce 2009-40891 October 12, 2012

MOZART: KEGELSTATT TRIO K. 498

for Viola, Clarinet and Piano

Mozart wrote the trio for clarinet, viola and piano in Vienna and dated the manuscript on
August 5, 1786. The work was dedicated to one of his students Franziska von Jacquin. In fact,
Mozart and the von Jacquin family, especially the father, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and his
youngest son Gottfried von Jacquin, are good friends. Mozart was a frequent visitor to the
Jacquin residence, which was the site of weekly gatherings of family and friends seeking
diversion in discussion, games, and music-making. They performed house concerts together,
Nikolaus on the flute and Franziska on the piano. The first performance of the trio was in their
house on one of their Wednesday afternoon house concert, Franziska on the piano, Mozart on
the viola, and Anton Stadler on the clarinet.

There was a rumor that the piece was composed while having an afternoon game of
skittles, an old European variety of bowling. The word kegelstatt means a place where skittles
was being played a bowling alley. Mozart wrote that he composed the 12 Duos for Basset
Horns (K. 487) while playing skittles, he noted that on the first page of that autograph, "Vienna,
27 July 1786 while playing skittles" ("Wien, den 27ten Jullius 1786 untern Kegelscheiben")
only about a week before he dated this trio. Thus, they thought that similar situation happened
with this piece, though there was no evidence. The title was just added later on by the
publishers. Mozart entered this work into his list of works as "Ein Terzett fr klavier, Clarinett
und Viola".

Mozart has been fond of the clarinet since he first heard it in London in 1764. And his
friendship with the Viennese virtuoso Anton Stadler made him compose more work for the
instrument. And of course, the clarinet part of this work was written with Stadler in his mind. As
for the slightly unusual choice of third instrument, the viola, Mozart himself was the intended
performer. Mozart was a skilled violist, and loved its warm, rich tone.

Since the clarinet was a new instrument at that time, and it was unlikely to possess
many devotees, the publisher Artaria changed its instrumentation, probably with Mozarts
consent, to violin, viola and piano, and described that the clarinet part can alter the violins. No
other composer other than Mozart had written in this combination of instruments. In the 19 th
century, Robert Schumann composed Mrchenerzhlungen (Op. 132), in 1910 Bruch wrote
Eight pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano op. 83 and Carl Reinecke "Trio for piano, clarinet
and viola" (Op. 246).

The trio is assigned in the key of Eb major, a key of close relation or friendship for
Mozart due to its warmth and coziness. It consists of three movements: Andante, Menuetto,
and Rondo: Allegretto. The first movement is not the traditional Allegro and doesnt have
repeats. It is in sonata form and favors the clarinet and piano in the presentation and
development of two main themes, though the viola played the secondary theme in the
recapitulation. The finale, is not the standard Allegro but a seven-part rondo, marked Allegretto.
It exhibits a concerto style with virtuosic writing for all the three instruments and equal
distribution of the thematic material. The movement ends with a flowery, operatic coda.